A public memorial event in Dresden for six Dutch immigrant workers killed in the 1957 construction disaster takes place next week
A public memorial event in Dresden for six Dutch immigrant workers killed in the 1957 construction disaster takes place next week.
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Dresden 1957 film director Eric Philpott, as well as special guests, will mark the anniversary of the tragedy on Aug. 14 at the Old Czech Hall starting at 6 p.m.
The event will include a moment of silence at 7 pm, the time when the cave-in occurred. The hall is the same venue where the coroner’s inquest was held four weeks after the cave-in.
Family members of all six victims will be in attendance.
Philpott’s late father, Keith Philpott, was the site engineer in Dresden where a deep pit was excavated beside the Sydenham River for the construction of a pumping station to feed a new water treatment plant for the town.
Keith Philpott was concerned about the stability of the soil, and shared his concerns with the contractor, but no measures were taken. That remained a family story until 2020, when Keith’s diaries, photos, drawings, and other documents related to the project were discovered.
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Those materials reveal what happened in the lead-up to the disaster.
A successful crowdfunding campaign held recently will allow the filmmaking team to complete production this summer. About 130 people from Southwestern Ontario and beyond in Canada, plus the United States, the Netherlands and Germany, contributed to the film.
Philpott and Joseph Crawford will film in the area throughout August and into September.
The anniversary event will also feature Chatham-Kent Coun. Rhonda Jubenville, and Andy Cornell, pastor at the St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Dresden.
There will be virtual appearances from historian Anne van Arragon, whose book, Uprooted, captures the children’s experience of Dutch postwar immigration to Canada, and Michael Chappell, a retired professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and the former provincial co-ordinator of occupational health and safety with the Ministry of Labor.
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“Immigration is a major challenge for everyone, requiring instant immersion into a strange and unfamiliar culture,” van Arragon said in a release. “It was especially difficult for the families affected by the Dresden tragedy, who lost their fathers and breadwinners overnight.”
Chappell said despite being a nation of immigrants, there is a “mixed record” when it comes to the treatment of newcomers entering the workforce.
“Even today, they are vulnerable and precarious in their employment, and more likely to be injured or even lose their lives on the job, as these men did,” he said.
The event will be livestreamed at youtube.com/live/sIDwvgBrmHM. Those attending in-person are asked to arrive a few minutes early to ensure a prompt start at 6 pm. The Old Czech Hall is at 116 John St. E. in Dresden.
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